Eddie House – SLAMonlinehttp://www.slamonline.com
Your Source For The Best In BasketballTue, 20 Mar 2018 02:05:19 +0000en-UShourly1https://wordpress.org/?v=4.9.4Eddie House is Hoping to Get Another NBA Contracthttp://www.slamonline.com/nba/eddie-house-is-hoping-to-get-another-nba-contract/
http://www.slamonline.com/nba/eddie-house-is-hoping-to-get-another-nba-contract/#commentsMon, 10 Dec 2012 16:05:59 +0000http://www.slamonline.com/online/?p=242908

Add Eddie House to the list of out-of-work hoopsters looking to get back into the NBA. The 34-year old veteran guard tells the Sun-Sentinel that he’s ready should a team give him a look: “I’m still working out. I’m waiting to get a call,’ he said. ‘If I get one, I get one. I’ll be ready. But if I don’t, just trying to open up other doors. Hopefully something good happens.’ […] House, of course, wasn’t around when the Miami Heat finally got it right, cut on the eve of last season in favor of the youth of Terrel Harris. Yet no sooner did Dwyane Wade, LeBron James and Chris Bosh realize their championship dream one year deferred, then House was on the phone. ‘I called everybody,’ he said. ‘Everybody who I didn’t call, I left a text message, congratulating them and telling them how proud I was to see them doing that, because I knew how much hard work they put in to everything they’ve done. From top to bottom, I hit up the coaches, trainers, strength coach, even like the films guys. I hit everybody up to show my respect for what they did.’ All the while, the phone never rang for House, even after he moved past the knee issue that contributed to his Christmas Eve 2011 release. There was one NBA tryout last season that went well, he said, but never led to an offer. ‘It just seems like they’re not calling, for whatever reason,” he said. “I’m healthy right now, in good shape, feel good.’ The odds of a player being called back into service in the NBA are slim. But he sees Jerry Stackhouse thriving with the Brooklyn Nets and Rasheed Wallace finding his way with the New York Knicks and figures there still is hope.”

With Miami set to open the season tomorrow in a Finals rematch against Dallas, they’ve elected to do so without the services of veteran shooter Eddie House. House, who won an NBA Championship with Boston in 2008, was waived on Friday by the Heat. Ira Winderman of the South Florida Sun Sentinel has the details: “In a surprising move, the Miami Heat kept two free-agent rookies on their final, 15-player roster, instead opting to waive veteran guard Eddie House. Mickell Gladness, a shot-blocking center out of Alabama A&M who spent time with the Heat in the team’s 2010 summer league, and Terrel Harris, a former Oklahoma State standout who went undrafted in 2009 and had played in recent years in France, Germany and the NBA Development League, both made the final cut by coach Erik Spoelstra and Heat President Pat Riley. House was informed of the move Friday night. “It was an extremely tough decision,” Spoelstra said of waiving House. “Eddie started his career with us. We drafted him, and he’s part of our Heat family. Pat and I both talked to him last night and those are the toughest decisions you have to make.” Ultimately, it meant the Heat eating the second year of the two-year contact House signed in the 2010 offseason. He was coming off an early-November knee procedure and was not expected to be cleared for a return until next month. With swingman Mike Miller and Shane Battier ailing, it opened the door for Harris.”

“It is common sense, we can talk about it, but I think it’s evident,” Bosh said. “I just have to get it where I’m effective. I’m a big man. I can shoot the ball but I’m a big man. So I have to get it where big guys get it. Then I feel I can start helping out this team more.”

The team’s rotation changed recently with the addition of point guard Mike Bibby, who signed last week. “Hopefully guys can be aggressive and contribute more,” Wade said. “There are guys on the bench that can help us, no question about it. That is all on coach. We’ve had guys like Eddie [House] help us win games and James Jones, etc. He’s going to have to decide whether or not people are on the floor.”

DWade may have a point when it comes to giving different guys a chance to play. As for Chris Bosh, things aren’t that simple — back in October, he told the world that he doesn’t really like bumping and grinding in the post. Whoops!

Things don’t get any easier for Miami, as they host the Lakers tomorrow night, the defending champs and the NBA’s hottest team. Yeah, good luck with all of that.

After he hit the game-winning three in yesterday’s Heat-Thunder contest, Eddie House proceeded to celebrate by performing what the League deemed an “obscene gesture.” As NBA.com tells it: “Miami Heat guard Eddie House has been fined $25,000 for making an obscene gesture, it was announced today by Stu Jackson, NBA Executive Vice President, Basketball Operations. The incident occurred with 22.2 remaining in the fourth quarter of the Heat’s 108-103 win over the Oklahoma City Thunder on Jan. 30.”

Some losses make sense. Others, particularly after examining the box score from the crime scene on Tuesday, make for migraines. Depending on the players’ perspectives, this was either a Utah robbery or an overwhelming display of Heat charity. And that’s what made the postgame diagnosis from the Heat almost as inexplicable as the manner in which they snatched defeat from those proverbial jaws of victory.

“For whatever reason, I don’t think we had that sense of urgency,” said Heat guard Eddie House, who missed a 3-pointer with 0.4 seconds that would have won the game in overtime. “I think we got up 20 (points) and might have just gotten bored with that process of how we got up 20.”

Huh? So among the reasons the Heat lost was because they simply got bored of winning. James, who notched the first triple-double by a Heat player since Shaquille O’Neal did it four years ago, pinpointed Miami’s demise as a stretch during the close of the third quarter, when Millsap and Williams combined for 26 of Utah’s 30 points and made 11 of 15 shots in the period.

The Miami Heat — who currently sit behind the Cleveland Cavaliers, of all teams, in the standings — have Boston coming to town this Thursday night.

With the bright lights from national television shining down on the most scrutinized team in the NBA, one can only hope that will be enough to keep their interest for 48 minutes.

Every top-tier team needs strong role players that can hit open shots and play tough D. While LeBron, DWade and Bosh will do most of Miami’s heavy lifting, they’ll need some help. Who will step up? [poll id=”135″]

The sad (and motivating) reality for the Miami Heat and their bandwagon is that most of the basketball-watching universe will be rooting for them to fail next season. That’s what great teams must endure — the so-called “haters”.

For newcomer Eddie House, this isn’t a very big problem. He’s got a hilarious answer to anyone standing in the way of his team’s hopes and dreams.

“I think, you know what, honestly, I don’t give a (expletive) about nobody else on the outside,” House said. “It doesn’t matter about anybody out there. I don’t care what their expectations are. We have our expectations and our goals. We are going to achieve them. That’s the bottom line.”

His contention is that the critics have nothing else to discuss and, since “negativity sells,” and “no drama’s no fun,” they’re trying to create some. He calls it “messed up” that the stars are being criticized for taking less money to play together.

“So, at the end of the day, middle fingers to all the haters,” House said.

Well, then.

I just hope the Miami Heat elects to make that statement from Eddie House its official slogan for the upcoming season. It’s certainly catchier than LeBron’s “team John Dillinger.”

The former Celtic and current Heat guard tells the Arizona Republic that Miami’s transformation dwarfs the one that took place in Beantown a couple of years ago: “Eddie House has been around the block. Now, he’s joined the circus. He will report to the Miami Heat on Monday, forming alliances with LeBron James, Dwyane Wade, Chris Bosh and others. One of the game’s more likeable characters will begin assimilating with the most reviled team in the NBA. ‘I compare it to the year I went to Boston when the Big 3 got together in 2007,’ House said. ‘But this is going to be even bigger. This is going to be Boston on steroids.'”

Sorry Bulls fans, Eddie House makes another nice signing for the Heat. From Adrian Wojnarowski: “The Heat have reached an agreement with 32-year-old guard Eddie House on a two-year contract for $2.8 million, his agent, Mark Bartelstein, told Yahoo! Sports on Thursday. The second year of the deal is a player option for $1.4 million. Miami beat out the Chicago Bulls to get House. With a history of clutch shooting that includes multiple big games with the Boston Celtics over the past three years, House will help support Miami’s starry core off the bench.”

House, a popular former Celtic, could find himself back in familiar territory next season. From the Globe: “In the process of surrounding their core with a solid second unit, the Celtics had discussions about bringing Eddie House back to Boston. House, whose shooting streaks helped the Celtics win the title in 2008, was shipped to New York at the trade deadline last February in a deal for Nate Robinson. ‘It’s something [Celtics president] Danny [Ainge] and I have discussed,’ House’s agent Mark Bartelstein said. “But nothing’s imminent.’ Should he find himself back in Green, however, he’d have to do it for less money. Pinched by the salary cap, the Celtics would only be able to offer House the veteran minimum. House made $2.5 million last season, but if he played for the minimum next season, he would be entitled to $1.35 million as a 10-year veteran.”

It’s a Friday and the Cavs are in town. It’s going to be a good night. No, I don’t want you to think of that God awful song when you hear that sentence, you know the one that every arena still insists on playing, even though it’s beyond overkill. It’s just really going to be a good night. Sure, LeBron is in town, but, um, so is Leon Powe and you know how we feel about Mr. Powe around here. Can’t wait.

Okay, so the Cavs are in town, perhaps without Shaq after he sprained a thumb in the first quarter of the Cavs 108-88 victory over the Celtics.

I’m not kidding. After the C’s shot 60 percent for the first half and led throughout the first three quarters, the Cavs were within one going into the fourth and then Boston fell apart on their home floor. Getting outscored 35-14 over the final 12 minutes, it was ugly. Ugly, ugly.

LeBron was unstoppable when he decided to leave the threes alone and drive to the hoop. He finished with 36 points, seven rebounds and nine assists and the only thing slowing him down was his inability to put two free throws together. In 15 attempts, he connected on 11, but it felt like he missed a free throw every time he went up to shoot a pair.

Wonder how the C’s fans felt without Eddie House to come into the game late and jack threes while Mo Williams nailed five of them for Cleveland?

It felt right to watch Leon Powe finish the game off by draining two free throws in his old home arena. So happy he is back and looking good.

Can’t believe how bad the Celtics have been at home this season. At least, when they’re playing teams other than the Raptors. If Shaq has to miss time with that sprained thumb –which was called “significant” on the TNT broadcast– perhaps it will become even more important for the Cavs to get Big Z back. I guess I should also keep in mind that the C’s were without Paul Pierce, kinda a big part of the equation, but wow, did they fall apart in the fourth.

In Indy, it looked like there were as many players as people in the stands by the end of it. While the Bucks controlled most of the way, the ending got a little interesting as Danny Granger was fouled behind the 3-point line with 10 seconds remaining. After he made just two of the three, the Bucks led by two and then Brandon Jennings made it four, hitting two free throws. With 1.5 seconds remaining, TJ Ford was fouled shooting a three, and made his first two foul shots, intentionally missing the third, trying to get the rebound and putback, but the Bucks grabbed the rebound as the clock sounded.

In Golden State, Steph Curry tried his best to keep his team into it, but the Nuggets were too good and too explosive down the stretch. JR Smith was huge, knocking down seven 3-pointers and finishing with 25 points off of the bench to go with the smattering of red stars on his neck, a new tattoo that was supposedly done over UStream and that made his neck look like it was bleeding. Just ask Jeff Green’s Twitter, he ageed.

The Nuggets were without head coach George Karl who missed the game due to chemo treatments as he battles throat cancer. Thoughts continue to be with him.

Curry finished with 30 points on 10-for-19 shooting go to with seven rebounds and 13 assists. Just two turnovers to go with two steals and a blocked shot, too. He was awesome. I was going to go to bed early because I’ve been feeling a cold coming on, but dammit, kid’s too good to turn away from.

Speaking of good, Chauncey Billups led the way for Denver with 37 points, six rebounds and nine assists. Melo added 27, Ty Lawson scored 12 off of the bench, and well, we already discussed JR. Nuggets just have so many weapons.

Something I appreciated: Rookie Steph Curry on the bench after being taken out of the game in the final minutes as the Nuggets took the game, cheering on teammate Anthony Morrow as he scores a meaningless layup. He gets it. This may not be a winning season, but it’s been a learning one for Curry and he’s taken every challenge, knock and lesson with stride.

And while some Raps fans will be pumped if Shaq is out of the game, JJ Hickson scares me quite a bit, too. Amir Johnson is used to being able to out-hustle and out-energy the other reserves, with Andy V and Hickson, he’s going to have his hands full. He’s also going to have to work very hard not to pick up 800 trillion person fouls.

Okay, bedtime for me as the wind is blowing like mad outside and there’s a whole lot of snow out there. Brrr!

This isn’t what one would call a very warm welcome. No one in the Celtics’ locker room was screaming “word aaaaappp!” for their new teammate last night: “Celtics coach Doc Rivers didn’t feel the team needed a shake-up after posting a 10-10 record in the last 20 games. ‘I would’ve been fine if we hadn’t … we’ll see whether that’s the right decision or not,’ said Rivers. ‘I like this team, I’ve said it over and over again. I didn’t think we needed to make changes.’ Asked Rajon Rondo about his thoughts on the trade, he first declined, seemingly frustrated. ‘I don’t know, I don’t know,’ said Rondo on whether the team needed to make a trade. “I hope it’s for the best. Eddie House can drop 20, 30 [points off the bench] too. But [the players] don’t make decision, we just play the game.’ As for his relationship with Robinson: ‘We compete. We don’t really see each other, we speak, but I try to kill him every time I play him and I’m sure that’s probably his mentality.’ He did say that Robinson brings ‘energy and he can definitely score the ball in a million different ways. He’s a good defender.”‘

Eddie House knows that his time in Boston has just about run out: “Eddie House, speaking at Celtics practice this afternoon at UCLA, just told the team media that his trade to New York for Nate Robinson is almost complete. The Celtics guard added that he could have remained at the team hotel, but reported for practice in the event that the trade didn’t go through. ‘I wouldn’t say it’s a done deal, but there’s a pretty good chance it’s going through,’ said House’s agent, Mark Bartlestein.’ In apparent support of House’s theory, the New York media entered the locker room in Madison Square Garden tonight to find Robinson’s locker cleared out, save for a jar of vaseline. Robinson had missed a game Tuesday night in Chicago with what management described as the flu. One man who will be particularly happy if House does indeed replace Robinson in that space is Knicks coach Mike D’Antoni, who coached House once before in Phoenix.”

The Celtics know this, and they love House for it: “As Magic PG Rafer Alston can attest, Celtics SG Eddie House is the pebble in your shoe. ‘He gets under everybody’s skin when he gets us going,’ Celtics Coach Doc Rivers said. ‘It’s not personal. I mean, he just gets so wound up, and that’s good. I’m a big believer in emotion. And some people take it the wrong way, but I’ll take it as long as he’s on my side.'”

The NBA has suspended Derek Fisher and Rafer Alston for their roles in separate incidents last night. The Lakers and the Magic will be without starting point guards in Game 3 tomorrow.

Fisher has been suspended for bowling over “My Friend from Argentina!” Luis Scola. Fisher was thrown from the game with a Flagrant Two. Alston has been suspended for swinging at Eddie House’s head. House was hit with a technical foul for elbowing Alston in his stomach. Both incidents occurred in the final minute of the third quarter.

Oh, let’s not overlook this little note at the bottom of the press release:

Jackson also announced that the Lakers’ Kobe Bryant has been assessed a Flagrant Foul Penalty One for elbowing Houston’s Ron Artest in the chest area with 6:57 remaining in the fourth period of Wednesday night’s game.

Yes, Kobe has been dealt a flagrant one for this ‘bow to Artest’s chest (which lead to Ron Ron’s demonstative ejection). Both Artest and Bryant will play in Game 3.

Skip to My Lou turned into Rick James last night, getting slap-happy with Eddie House. This came after House drained yet another three-bomb in his grill (on his way to a game-high 31 points), evidently upsetting Alston to the point where he felt it necessary to slap Eddie.

Watch the video, and let us know what you think: Should Rafer be suspended for Game 3 of the Celtics/Magic series?

I’m beyond making sense right now and yet I cannot imagine sleeping because this game was so damn nuts. Wasn’t planning on writing today, but needed to because we need to discuss. Everything. Anything. All of it.

I missed the C’s and Magic because I was on the plane and we didn’t have the game on the channels I had access to. I’m still not believing this night. Game 3 is going to be psycho and perhaps we could have some players missing?

I hope Ron is good and the media doesn’t go to crazy on him, assuming he’s going to go crazy. He took an elbow to the throat and overreacted a bit. Let’s leave him be.

Fisher threw Scola like he was a ragdoll.

Kobe had 40. 3 more points to pass Larry Bird for playoff scoring.

Brian Cook on the STAPLES Center court in the final seconds of a loss for the Rockets made me feel badly for him.

Everyone is talking about the Nuggets/Mavericks series and how Denver is going to out-tough Dallas. How Kenyon’s foul against Dirk (and the fine), affected Game 1, etc., etc. This series just took over as the most intense one going. Wow. And, now we go into Houston tied.

This thing is over. Tied 1-1. I knew about 20 people at this game and I’m beyond jealous of each and every one of them.

So, who gets suspended for Game 3? Rafer? Kobe? Ron? House? Fish?

And most importantly, will Adelman allow Von Wafer to step foot into the Toyota Center?

Okay, perhaps even more importantly, Boston and LA have each tied things at 1 game apiece.

Chris Paul was back for the Bee’s last game before All-Star weekend. To make sure everything was feeling right after a groin injury last week, Paul took one of the League’s worst defenders off the dribble. Taking Eddie House to school may be no prize, but it’s safe to say CP3’s feeling alright.

With Sam Cassell yet to play a minute this season and appearing for all intents and purposes to have retired as a player, the NBA has a noticeable void. Although Sam’s story is far from over—he’s destined to be on a studio show sooner rather than later and make Gary Payton look like Joe Buck. (I have seen Sam Cassell in person exactly once, in the locker room before his last game as a Clipper. There’s no describing what the experience is like. He’s like the extreme of everything you think he would be, only more so. My then-boss, the great Brian Kamenetzky, said, “When Sam becomes a head coach in this league, I will immediately move to that city and try to cover that team.” He was kidding. I think. I cannot wait for Sam Cassell’s next job, is what I’m saying here.)

So it will be many moons before we have to say goodbye to what we love about Sam off the court, but Sam The Player has left a void as well. So few guards become high-level players through attitude and sheer will to make shots—Sam’s court vision wasn’t even all that good, and he shot with his feet touching, but when he got the ball he knew in his mind he was going to score. And all that wonderful ethos of Sam was encapsulated by his signature big balls dance, the greatest random NBA quirk ever, according to this official list I just made:

In any case, on at least two occasions NBA players have tried to revive the big balls dance this season:

1. Kobe Bryant vs. San Antonio Spurs
Notice here that, as one would expect from Kobe, the form on the big balls dance is absolutely textbook—the dance is done at a jogging pace, the legs are splayed out in the correct position, the hands are swung in perfect counter-motions with each other and the finish is extended so as to accentuate the size of the pantomimed big balls. Kobe Bryant: meticulous about all things basketball.

2. Andre Iguodala vs. Boston Celtics
Not only was this much worse form, but ‘Dre’s decision to break out the dance while its progenitor was on the opposing bench watching was particularly foolish.

The truly important thing to note about these instances is that in both cases the team lost on the subsequent play—Kobe’s game-winner was stolen by an improbable 20-footer from Roger Mason Jr. while he was getting fouled, and Andre’s Sixers immediately fell victim to a perfectly designed play to get Ray Allen open for the game-winning 3. Clearly, what has happened here is that the big balls dance is cursed, and will cause anyone who impetuously uses it will be cursed by the basketball Gods. (Basketbawful picked up on this phenomena as well.)

Logically, the clear obvious next step is that one heir to the big balls dance needs to be named and bestowed with its power in a secret ceremony by Sam Cassell on his mothership, so the dance may remain in our league without being further cursed. That much is obvious. The tricky part is trying to figure out which player deserves having the honor bestowed upon him. Here are my nominees, in no particular order:

Kobe Bryant

Pros: Generally considered the best last-shot player in basketball and unquestionably unafraid of taking, and making, big shots. Leads NBA with an average of 57.3 points per 48 minutes in “clutch” situations. The Mamba.

Cons: Already tragically misused the power of the dance once and may lack the necessary responsibility. Arguably such a virtuoso talent as a scorer that the dance is incongruous. More than anything, is too insecure in how he presents himself and attempts to manicure his image far too much—we’ve seen “hate me if you want” Kobe, private Kobe, awkward attempt at humor Kobe, “seriously, I’m a good teammate” Kobe, and “I am a basketball robot sent to demoralize your players and burn down your village” Kobe. He doesn’t know who he is, we don’t know who he is. The Dance requires a unified vision of self and confidence to unfurl the swagger that entails.

LeBron James

Pros: The League’s other marquee star, James, like Kobe, always has the ball in his hands as the clock winds down and may quietly be even more productive in the clutch than Kobe—his “clutch” stats have been as good, if not better, than Kobe’s for three years, with only 0.3 less points per 48 on seven less shots and five more assists per 48 this season. And LeBron’s Cavs have consistently been a great team in close games, playing as well in close games last season as any team ever has. Despite all this, LeBron doesn’t have quite the closer reputation others enjoy. Calling some attention to his prowess could silence some critics.

Cons: While he’s adept at scoring when the pressure’s on, LeBron’s much less of a final-shot assassin than Kobe and only has one buzzer-beating game-winner in his career. What LeBron does do is take the ball to the basket on the game’s last play as well as anyone ever has, which presents a problem.

The swagger represented by the dance in question is a David’s sling for the smaller players to defeat teams through sheer confidence in self and ability to do the near-impossible. LeBron’s game-winners are a representation of his completely overpowering physical gifts and skill. While that certainly requires confidence, it doesn’t require the confidence that tossing up a 20-footer with two hands in your face does. And the crab dribble is not a good thing to have on the resume. Also, many national media members would probably interpret the dance as a pantomime of subway tunnels, a clear hint that he plans to leave for New York.

Manu Ginobili

Pros: Last year, the top tier of “clutch” players was Manu, LeBron and Kobe. Manu’s team is the one that’s won rings recently. The go-to scorer on a team that’s the League’s most notorious for finding ways to win.

Cons: A thousand times no. I’m pretty sure Manu thinks the dance means “I have accumulated a lot of change and am unsure what to do with it, so for the moment there is much change in my pockets, which I find unwieldy.” Also, no.

Carmelo Anthony

Pros: Actually, Anthony is probably the best last-shot player in the NBA, having made game-winning—or tying—shots at a much better clip than anyone else, with 10 makes.

Cons: …In the regular season.

Ray Allen/Eddie House

Pros: They more or less cancel each other out—House is a dead-eye shooter with limited skill in other areas but off-the-charts confidence and willingness to put shots up, while Allen is tremendously skilled and mild-mannered but is an absolute assassin at the end of games, Thursday’s brick against the Lakers notwithstanding.

*****

These players are very good, especially in the clutch, but the following are my finalists for the honor:

Kevin Durant

Pros: A budding assassin, he’s already got himself a very nice reel of game-winners. He’s still growing into his personality, and it could benefit him tremendously to give OKC fans a healthy amount of swagger to get behind. But still, his combination of height, shooting ability and confidence all absolutely scream future assassin.

Cons: Let’s see how the kid does when he’s got actual pressure put on him. This is a decision we can’t afford to be wrong about.

Roger Mason, Jr.

Pros: Already has two huge game-winning 3-point plays on national television to win games to his credit. An absolutely unconscious shooter from deep. In crunch time, has a ridiculous 70 percent eFG on jumpers. Has an assassin’s name, even. Being a non-big 3 guy who takes the big shots = definitely swaggerous.

He seems to be the Spurs’ new “For all the stars everyone has, he’s the guy who represents the difference between a win and a loss” guy, a role Robert Horry previously filled. We lost Horry to cheap-shotting and evil. If Mason can inherit the dance, he could be an infinitely cooler clutch guy and bring joy and phenomenal swag where there once only was a lack of emotion and flopping in the valley of desolate winning that is the Spurs. Let a new dawn in San Antonio arise from Roger Mason’s private area.

Cons: Mason is more of a catch-and-shoot guy than we’d like to see, as it’s not really his decision to be taking big shots. Then again, Bob Horry was the same way.

Jameer Nelson

Pros: Like Steve Nash was in past years, Nelson is very quietly the best outside shooter in the NBA. (Fourty-five percent on 3s with only 65 percent on assists and a second-only-to Allen 50.4 percent on midrange shots, with only 8 percent assisted. Allen is at 41 percent and 53 percent with 93 percent and 46 percent of those attempts coming on catch-and-shoots.) In crunch time, his field goal percentages go to 52 percent from the floor and 60 percent on 3s while he averages 35 points per 48 minutes.

Nelson fits the Cassell-Olajuwon paradigm perfectly of a center and guard: Howard does the yeoman’s work in the paint for the first three quarters, but when the clock winds down, it’s Nelson who puts the team away. He won shootout with Kobe on national television by making bomb after bomb. Despite being a winner in college and someone who comes with skill and savvy over explosiveness, Nelson was passed on by 19 teams in the Draft and traded. He was then overlooked and shopped for his first four years in Orlando. A man on a mission. The rightful heir to Cassell. Also, could use a dash of exciting about him.

Cons: Tragically, he is out for the year, just as he was becoming one of my favorite players. But he will be back, and this honor lasts a lifetime. Jameer will return, with a chip on his shoulder as large as the scar on his bicep. And he will be hitting big shots. And he may even have a new dance.

UPDATE SPECIAL BONUS NOTE HOORAY!:

As I was about midway through this, I noticed that the great 82games.com has finally brought back its “game-winning shots” data. I implore you to look at it yourself and use it to decide who you think the rightful heir to the dance should be.